Re: JDS The Poet
Camille Scaysbrook (verona_beach@geocities.com)
Fri, 19 Feb 1999 12:20:52 +1100
I definitely didn't dream this up. It's something I've remembered for years
and years because it shocked me so much. The only thing out of my favour is
that I can't remember where I read it - short of trekking back to my old
high school library and finding the book I probably will never find out.
Possibly, given that `rape' wasn't considered as we consider it in
Dostoevsky's time - ie if a man forced himself on a girl of a nubile age
everything was OK - so perhaps it's something biographers seldom pick up on
- or wish to pick up on as it is a pretty nasty story and we hate hearing
pretty nasty stories about our favourite authors.
I will however do my best to track down the anecdote.
Camille
verona_beach@geocities.com
@ THE ARTS HOLE http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Theater/6442
@ THE INVERTED FOREST http://www.angelfire.com/pa/invertedforest
> > Yes, but then again Dostoevsky raped a twelve year old girl and
> boasted to
> > all his friends about it. Which is why I could never quite bear to
> embark
> > on Dostoevsky.
> >
> > Camille
>
> After hearing this I did quite a bit of research because I'm a big
Dostoevsky
> fan. Joseph Frank, who wrote a 4 volume biography of Dostoevsky never
> mentioned Dostoevsky ever raping anyone. In fact, it would not be
something
> Dostoevsky would do, seeing as he was a Russian Orthodox Christian. I
also
> talked to a Dr. Deborah Martinsen from Columbia University who is an
expert on
> Dostoevsky. She said that she has not read anything substantial, proving
that
> he had done such a thing, however, it has been rumored. These rumors
most
> likely come from his numerous novels that involve the rape of a child,
the
> symbol of innocence. Many of the first critics of Dostoevsky thought
anyone
> who liked his work was involved with a demon's writing, whereas many of
these
> critics felt that Dostoevsky was writing these stories of rape from
personal
> experience.
>
> That's just what I have learned from my reading and talking to experts.
If
> you have conflicting evidence, please let me know.
>
> Zack